Imagining Eagles’ future with and without Jason Kelce along the O-line

Jason Kelce hasn’t officially announced a decision on his retirement.

He’s made it clear that won’t happen until he sorts through emotions that haven’t yet settled. Soaked in melancholy after the NFC wild-card loss, Kelce politely declined to speak to reporters. Two days later, a more composed Kelce stated he wouldn’t address any retirement questions. He later opened up to Shaquille O’Neal on the NBA legend’s Feb. 12 podcast, saying he’s “still figuring it out.”

“I think if I still want to play, I’m going to play,” Kelce said. “I think right now we’re not far enough away from the last game. It’s emotional. It’s a long season. We ended the season, quite frankly, awful. … So I’m just going to take some time. Rest, recoup and then figure it out. I think I’ll have an answer in the next couple weeks.”

Kelce reportedly informed his teammates after the Philadelphia Eagles lost in the playoffs that he intends to retire. Absent a formalized decision, the signs aren’t difficult to read. Left tackle Jordan Mailata said on a Feb. 9 podcast with NBC Sports Philadelphia that “there’s no shot” Kelce returns. Not when he’s “out there living his life,” jumping out of a luxury box shirtless after his brother scored a touchdown in the AFC divisional round or dancing while wearing an abandoned luchador wrestling mask at a Super Bowl LVIII after-party in Las Vegas.

Still, that’s hardly sufficient evidence on its own. It’s not hard to imagine Kelce doing any of those things last year had he not been playing in Super Bowl LVII. But it’s apparent he now holds the kind of grip on the gravity of retirement that’s required to choose it.

There was a cathartic quality to the Amazon Prime documentary “Kelce,” in which the six-time All-Pro center partly considered his health and quality of life before choosing to return in 2023. But just as Kelce explained that decision using the Guy Clark folk song “The Cape,” in which a man keeps leaping from a rooftop fully believing he can fly, he could decide to suit up again in 2024. With both scenarios officially in play for the Eagles, we explore the future associated with each outcome.